I have a VTL IT-85 (Mullards) with some Thiels and I get some minor excessive brightness....... I'm using PAD Museaus but one time I hooked up my backup bottom scale Audioquests and I lost some resolution but the tone warmed up nicely............ Any way just wondering who makes some of the best copper cables and which models?
I found the Atlas Questor to be a terrific budget, quality, high-purity copper interconnect. I use them in my "power" rock/jazz/world music system--Taylo 7U floorstanding two-way speakers, Aragon 8008ST poweramp, Rotel RC 995 preamp, Audio Refinement Complete CDP. Clear, uncolored, very dynamic and speedy. And you can't beat the price--just over $100 for 1m. I get them through my local dealer, Eugene Hi-Fi, whose owners, Chris and Dale, ship internationally. They also sell the entire Atlas line--Navigator All Cu, Titans, etc. But the Questors are great "bang for the buck" cables. www.eugenehifi.com
Please allow me to suggest Audio Note Lexus. They are all copper with a very elaborate topology (same as the AN Sogon, which is all silver and costs several $1000), and they sound great. Best of all they are not that expensive: the ICs are about $175 per meter.
I also love the Nirvana S-L ICs which cost much more, and are a hair warmer.
Hey folks nobody did mention about the KIMBER familly like the 8 TC (on a budget cables) or even the KS-3033 (too expensive) or just forgotten ??? Good mention for the VIRTUAL DYNAMIC MASTER and REVELATION !!!
Again, Lesvan there are a lot of choices. Take a look at this review, for what is worth, something affordable and neutral without losing transparency, detail, and dynamic impact. Great "real" soundstage with my tubes and TT. www.soundstage.com/revequip/coincident_cstic_trs.htm Happy listening!
Harmonic Technology Truthlinks Audience Au24... and my personal favorite that I've heard but have not yet obtained for my system... Atlas Navigator All Cu (simply a stunning copper wire that provides the sweetest high end and the most realistic midrange ever!) The atlas cables are hard to find in North America, but are readily available in the UK. It's worth the effort to seek them out in my opinion!
Going up in price and quality: Au24, Nirvana SX Ltd, Virtual Dynamics Master and Revelation Series. Can't go wrong with any of these, just depends on your ears and wallet!!
Second the Jena Labs. They're the best cables, period, I've ever heard--copper, silver, palladium, whatever. The upper models are not cheap, but if you've got the system, they're more than worth the price of admission.
I've found that Wireworld's Polaris cables (all copper) are excellent for extension and detail without glare. The Audience cables that many have already mentioned are excellent also. And I was amazed at the quality of the Audio Art IC-1 cables for sale here on Audiogon, all copper but excellent sounding and dirt cheap. I've heard very good things about the AZ Wow and the Coincident copper cables, but haven't tried them. The Cardas and Harmonic Tech all-copper cables I used in the past were too slow and dark sounding for my tastes. But then, I'm a silver hybrid kind of guy.
Coincident is an excellent all copper wire. I run them as interconnect and speaker wire with my Atma-Sphere OTL amps and Aesthetix gear. They are very neutral and well balanced. It's probably important to note that I have Coincident speakers internally wired (stock) with the same. These cables are grossly underrated, very well made, and a Hifi bargain (299.00USD/M). I like them better than the Acoustic Zen Matrix Ref.II, Cardas Neutral Ref, or the Harmonic Technology IC's I've auditioned. Audience au24 is a great recommend. Happy listening!
Jena Labs make the best copper cables that I've heard. Better than Cardas Golden Reference, Tara Labs Air 1, XLO Signature, and many others that I've heard.
I would suggest Acoustic Zen either Satori or Hologram speaker cables and their Reference MkII ICs. Matrix would be warmer, but Silver ref has better resolution without being bright and without loss of bass. Between the source and pre the one to use is Silver ref and Matrix ref would go between the pre and amp.
Hey guys, thanks for all the input......... I should've said ICs but I also have the Museaus as speaker cable....... I looked at a review on the VTL I own and he matched it up with the Acoustic Zen and liked it....... thanks again to all of you. Les
I use all Audioquest, Anaconda for interconnects and Volcano for speaker cables, and I am pleased with the performace they provide. Although admittingly I have not experimented much with other cables. Acoustic Zen is also a very good cable.
Don't blow your dough on big name cables..suggest trying a home demo of Consonace...shockingly inexpensive and the equal or better than the pricey Nordost they replaced.
From your post, I guess you're talking about speaker cables. In my opinion, the new Elrod Power Systems speaker cables are amazing. Great resolution, but with the "fullness" and harmonic integrity one expects from live music.
Lesvan, I would recommend you audition a pair of Acoustic Zen Matrix reference 11's. They are very "musical/warm" but are still transparent and detailed, and I consider them a bargain at $500.00 retail. It's all personnal taste and system synergy, but I would put this cable on your audition list. Hope this helps.
Low end audioquests are really mushey and bassey in my opionion, I will leave it with that infact after trying some I hated audioquest for years. I would never buy there cables until I herd the skys. I am not saying to go that way but higher end audioquests will produce more detail and tighenthe bass. I would try to demo some cables though because they are so specific to what the room needs.
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